Clapper rail
Rallus crepitans J. F. Gmelin, 1789
The clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 306 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the clapper rail
- Weight
- 306 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the clapper rail live?
Not recorded
What is the clapper rail?
The clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the eastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands. This species was formerly considered to be conspecific with the mangrove rail.
From the Wikipedia article “Clapper rail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clapper_rail&oldid=1378118547), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the clapper rail endangered?
The clapper rail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the clapper rail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusRallus
- SpeciesRallus crepitans J. F. Gmelin, 1789
Other names and names in other languages (32)
- Salt-water marsh henEnglish
- تفلق مطقطقArabic
- مرعة مطقطقةArabic
- دجاج المستنقع المياه المالحةArabic
- rascló sorollósCatalan
- chřástal atlantickýCzech
- Connecticut KlapperrikseDanish
- KlapperralleGerman
- klapa raloEsperanto
- Rascón crepitanteSpanish
- Pollo de ManglarSpanish
- Pollo de mangleSpanish
- Rascón Costero del AtlánticoSpanish
- Râle tapageurFrench
- obalna kokošicaCroatian
- rallo battenteItalian
- オニクイナJapanese
- ヒガシオニクイナJapanese
- KlapperralDutch
- klaprerikseNorwegian
- wodnik karolińskiPolish
- saracura-crepitantePortuguese
- frango-d'água-crepitantePortuguese
- Карибский пастушокRussian
- Восточный пастушок-трескунRussian
- chriašteľ atlantickýSlovak
- Klepetavi petlovanSerbian
- kustrallSwedish
- Alkışçı SukılavuzuTurkish
- пастушок узбережнийUkrainian
- 長嘴秧雞Chinese
- 长嘴秧鸡Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the clapper rail
Other species in the same genus Rallus.
Water rail
Rallus aquaticus
African rail
Rallus caerulescens
Bogotá rail
Rallus semiplumbeus
Virginia rail
Rallus limicola
Mangrove rail
Rallus longirostris
Madagascar rail
Rallus madagascariensis
CompareClapper rail vs Water railClapper rail vs African railClapper rail vs Bogotá railClapper rail vs Virginia rail
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the clapper rail?
An adult clapper rail weighs 306 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the clapper rail endangered?
The clapper rail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the clapper rail?
The clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) belongs to the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Clapper rail (Rallus crepitans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/clapper-rail
“Clapper rail (Rallus crepitans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/clapper-rail.
@misc{clapper_rail_2026,
title = {Clapper rail (Rallus crepitans)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/clapper-rail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}